Genuine VS Chinese parts

[Hffhvg]

So long story short. I need to replace my rotary group in my slew/swing motor on an excavator.

Buying genuine parts from official dealers would cost me over 2500$/€ (that includes valve plate, cylinder block-rotor and nine pistons).
If I order them from China it would cost me 250$/€, shipping included (in addition to the three main components this kit also includes the swash-shoe plate, retainer plate and ball guide).

I would really like some opinions on this from people with experience.
Hear all the pros and cons of such situation.
I know I should stay away from Chinese parts but I am really leaning towards that option, because 2500$/€ is my two monthly paychecks in my country.

My main concern is that if the Chinese parts would break down it would cause more problems (like contaminating the hydraulic fluid and with that the whole system, or damaging other components in the slew/swing motor like shaft, bearings, seal and housing).

If it wouldn’t cause other damage I think I will take the risk of only these parts breaking down for the fraction of the price of originals.

This is also my first excavator and fixing such a problem, so I don’t know if these parts break down easily even if they are genuine.

 

[aongheas.macask]

So long story short. I need to replace my rotary group in my slew/swing motor on an excavator.

Buying genuine parts from official dealers would cost me over 2500$/€ (that includes valve plate, cylinder block-rotor and nine pistons).
If I order them from China it would cost me 250$/€, shipping included (in addition to the three main components this kit also includes the swash-shoe plate, retainer plate and ball guide).

I would really like some opinions on this from people with experience.
Hear all the pros and cons of such situation.
I know I should stay away from Chinese parts but I am really leaning towards that option, because 2500$/€ is my two monthly paychecks in my country.

My main concern is that if the Chinese parts would break down it would cause more problems (like contaminating the hydraulic fluid and with that the whole system, or damaging other components in the slew/swing motor like shaft, bearings, seal and housing).

If it wouldn’t cause other damage I think I will take the risk of only these parts breaking down for the fraction of the price of originals.

This is also my first excavator and fixing such a problem, so I don’t know if these parts break down easily even if they are genuine.

Don't do it, 250 dollars/euros with shipping included sounds ridiculous unless the parts are made of chocolate or wood. Just my opinion.

 

[Mike L]

You get what you pay for. If you buy Chinese junk, you’ll have Chinese junk.

 

[cfherrman]

China can make parts just fine, but nobody pays them for quality, just cheap stuff.

Typically quality control is very low

 

[Truck Shop]

Should be able to get 4 pages out of this.

 

[56wrench]

I’d just like to point out a lot of OEM parts are made in China as well as worldwide.

 

[HardRockNM]

I’d just like to point out a lot of OEM parts are made in China as well as worldwide.

That may be so, but you're paying for QC and warranty that just won't be present on a Chinesium Amazon-special part.

 

[Welder Dave]

Do you want to fix it once and have it last indefinitely or have to fix it again because you used poor quality parts?

 

[Hffhvg]

Do you want to fix it once and have it last indefinitely or have to fix it again because you used poor quality parts?

Well I am aware of that and my opinion on Chinese products is the same as most people. Like I said if there is danger of damaging any other parts then I’m immediately stepping back if I see a post saying something like that.
But still over 150$/€ for just one piston seems absurd to me.

Any opinion on these second hand shops? They have some more reasonable prices and probably some better quality than China stuff…
Anyone know of shops like that that are located in Europe?

 

[Coaldust]

China often sells the same stuff, off the same line, they build the OEM stuff for. Such as the recent Harbor Freight / Snap-on floor jack debacle. If you know what you are purchasing, there can be a huge savings.

Or, the Walmart house brand vs Yeti travel mug shenanigans .

Snap-on, Harbor Freight settle floor jack case

Terms not immediately disclosed.

biztimes.com

 

[Welder Dave]

Well I am aware of that and my opinion on Chinese products is the same as most people. Like I said if there is danger of damaging any other parts then I’m immediately stepping back if I see a post saying something like that.
But still over 150$/€ for just one piston seems absurd to me.

Any opinion on these second hand shops? They have some more reasonable prices and probably some better quality than China stuff…
Anyone know of shops like that that are located in Europe?

View attachment 309776

What's a Swimg motor?

 

[Hffhvg]

What's a Swimg motor?

Yeah that typo bothers me also…

 

[sfrs4]

So my first question is this... Chinese or Asian? The reason I ask is simple, a lot of really good excavators out there are Korean and parts are made in Korea.
As for the Chinese market my 2 cents worth on this, a lot of stuff for manufacturers is now made in China and Turkey, these two countries also seem to have no copyright laws and don't care what manufacturer lawyers say.
Just look at CAT, they have manufacturing plants in china now.... and all of a sudden you can buy previously unheard of " aftermarket " CAT parts, another one is Lego until a few years ago you never heard of copy Lego kits, in 2016 Lego opened a factory in China, now you can buy exact copies of Lego just without the name on it for less than half the price.
As someone above mentioned the main issue is quality control, but its not that bad, I would however lean away from any part that is very labour intensive to fit or is a "critical" part.
The main thing to remember is, it's going to more than probably be from the same factory that makes it for the manufacturer just without branding and manufacturer % mark up.

 

[MG84]

China often sells the same stuff, off the same line, they build the OEM stuff for. Such as the recent Harbor Freight / Snap-on floor jack debacle. If you know what you are purchasing, there can be a huge savings.

Or, the Walmart house brand vs Yeti travel mug shenanigans .

That is often true, but there are subtle differences including the quality. Especially when it comes to tools there are multiple 'grades' of tools that may look the same, coming from the same factory, but the quality/features are worlds apart. Places like harbor freight are getting the cheapest bottom dollar stuff coming off the line that wouldn't even pass QC for most of the brands. Things like switches, motors, etc will also be much cheaper.

Most recent glaring example of this that I experienced was with hydraulic pipe benders, the type that use a hydraulic bottle jack. Bought one from Northern Tool a few years back, wasn't cheap, but it worked amazingly well. The dies were tight and fit the pipe perfectly, jack worked great etc. I used it to bend all the A500 structural sch 40 for the bumpers, tube bed, sliders, etc on one of my 4wds. Made beautiful bends that you just about couldn't tell from a DOM tubing bender. Long story short, it got stolen so I picked up what I though was the exact same thing from Harbor Freight. Looks identical, just a different color. It is a complete piece of crap, the dies do not fit the pipe properly and it kinks the pipe terribly. Also the ram/piston on the hydraulic jack are either not plated or just very low grade steel. Rusted up within a few weeks taking out the seals. It's so bad I may throw it on the next load of scrap. I'm certain these are the same basic bender from the same factory. One got sold to the highest bidder, the other to the lowest, and the price/quality matches.

I would NEVER buy Chinese brand parts for any piece of equipment. Buy OEM or the best you can find, sometimes the most expensive is actually the best value.

 

[CM1995]

China often sells the same stuff, off the same line, they build the OEM stuff for. Such as the recent Harbor Freight / Snap-on floor jack debacle. If you know what you are purchasing, there can be a huge savings.

Or, the Walmart house brand vs Yeti travel mug shenanigans .

Snap-on, Harbor Freight settle floor jack case

Terms not immediately disclosed.

biztimes.com

Well it wasn't proven the jacks were made on the same line -

Harbor Freight also alleged Snap-on’s jacks were made in the same factory as the Harbor Freight ones and the company’s business model is what caused a higher price. Snap-on denied those allegations in its response.

Case settled out of court so we'll never know.

 

[chidog]

Yeah makes no sense. You'd think China would strive to make quality, they are very qualified to make the best of the best, for some reason they choose not to on some things, its like they want a bad rep. Japan was in the same boat in the 50's and early 60's, all they made then was junk, but then their stuff became the swiss watch of industry. Nowadays I don't think any country makes top quality anything.
And tools and parts that are sent here and cost some middle man pennys are sold to us at top $, like its old school american made stuff.
Some Jet tools have been made in china, I'm actually very impressed with some of the quality.

 

[Welder Dave]

Vise Grips are pretty good quality (not as good as US made) but they sure didn't go down in price after production moved to China. I'm sure if they were still made in the US a lot people wouldn't mind spending 10 up to 20% more for them depending on the model. They are one of those tools where if you want the best, you don't mind paying more. If people want cheap they wouldn't buy Vise Grip brand anyway.

 

[Coaldust]

Vise Grips are pretty good quality (not as good as US made) but they sure didn't go down in price after production moved to China. I'm sure if they were still made in the US a lot people wouldn't mind spending 10 up to 20% more for them depending on the model. They are one of those tools where if you want the best, you don't mind paying more. If people want cheap they wouldn't buy Vise Grip brand anyway.

That was a terribly tragic what happened to the great people of DeWitt Nebraska, Peterson Manufacturing and the Vise- Grip brand.

Malco Products purchased the old Peterson factory and started manufacturing OG American made pliers in 2019, but I think the wu-flu did them in.

You can still purchase new Malco Eagle Grip ( Vise-Grip) pliers on Fleabay and the Big A build on the original Peterson tooling and people if you act fast. Great pliers!

 

[Coaldust]

Yeah makes no sense. You'd think China would strive to make quality, they are very qualified to make the best of the best, for some reason they choose not to on some things, its like they want a bad rep. Japan was in the same boat in the 50's and early 60's, all they made then was junk, but then their stuff became the swiss watch of industry. Nowadays I don't think any country makes top quality anything.
And tools and parts that are sent here and cost some middle man pennys are sold to us at top $, like its old school american made stuff.
Some Jet tools have been made in china, I'm actually very impressed with some of the quality.

Lots of great Japanese stuff today. Silky Saws, Ko-ken hand tools, Lobtex wrenches, Mitutoyo. Only damn good precision measuring tool available since Starett was sold. Their various screwdriver brands and awesome.

Thinking about it, I can’t think of any JDM stuff that’s bad. Probably the best in the world along with a few German and American products.

 

[MG84]

Lots of great Japanese stuff today. Silky Saws, Ko-ken hand tools, Lobtex wrenches, Mitutoyo. Only damn good precision measuring tool available since Starett was sold. Their various screwdriver brands and awesome.

Thinking about it, I can’t think of any JDM stuff that’s bad. Probably the best in the world along with a few German and American products.

I've had excellent luck with most durable goods made in Japan over the past 30yrs. Most of my small construction equipment is Kubota and have numerous products from Honda including two cars, ATV, dirtbike, many GX series small engines, generators, etc. Hondas are the only cars we've owned that have made it to almost 400K mi.